Bandwidth with Purpose: Inside Metro Edge’s $250M Bet on Digital Equity
Metro Edge Development Partners is a commercial real estate firm focused on high-impact, technology-driven developments—but its ambitions go beyond brick and bandwidth.
With its $250 million IMD1 data center rising in the heart of the Illinois Medical District, Metro Edge is using digital infrastructure to push a bigger agenda: ownership, equity, and long-term reinvestment in Black and Brown communities.
“Infrastructure is equity,” says Craig Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Metro Edge. “If we don’t own the digital highways, we’re letting someone else write the future.”
That belief is embodied in the IMD1 project, a five-story, 184,720-square-foot data center rising on Chicago’s West Side. Designed to meet growing demand for low-latency computing and edge data services, IMD1 is more than a hub for tech—it’s a community anchor. The project is expected to generate over $13 million in annual tax revenue, create more than 3,500 construction jobs, and offer 120+ permanent, high-paying roles.
Metro Edge’s vision received a major boost when the Chicago City Council unanimously passed the city’s new Data Residency Ordinance with a 50-0 vote. The legislation incentivizes vendors doing business with the City to store data locally—ideally within city limits and in Opportunity Zones like the Illinois Medical District.
“We’ve traditionally focused on where people live to determine residency—but why not data?” Huffman says. “If we’re spending hundreds of millions of public dollars storing city data, we should be leveraging that spend to bring jobs and reinvestment back into Chicago communities.”
The ordinance has already sparked interest from other municipalities, with cities like Baltimore and Atlanta exploring similar models. Huffman sees it as a policy tool with national implications—one that can help rebalance the scales of digital access and economic mobility.
Metro Edge’s leadership also represents a significant milestone in an industry often criticized for its lack of diversity. As the first African American-led data center developer in Illinois, Huffman understands the stakes of visibility and ownership.
“We’re not new to this space—we’re just new to being visible in it,” he says. “Our communities have been consumers of technology for decades. It’s time we started owning the infrastructure, too.”
Both Huffman and co-founder Vance Kenney are clear: this isn’t just about tech—it’s about access, ownership, and closing systemic gaps.“AI and advanced tech are expensive to implement,” says Kenney. “Smaller municipalities, historically marginalized communities—they get left out. We want to change that.”
IMD1 also aligns with the national push for climate-conscious development. The facility will incorporate energy-efficient systems and is targeting LEED certification. This commitment mirrors industry shifts—from Meta’s net-zero campus in DeKalb to Edged Energy’s waterless data center in Aurora—but for Metro Edge, sustainability also includes people.
“We’re talking about building a pipeline for Black and brown communities to access the digital economy,” Huffman says. “That means job training, partnerships with organizations like Cara Collective, and ensuring that our vendors reflect the communities we serve.”
As cities race to attract tech investment, Metro Edge is proving that digital infrastructure doesn’t have to come at the expense of local communities—it can be a catalyst for inclusive growth.
“We’re not just building data centers. We’re building capacity,” Huffman says. “We’re building the infrastructure for digital equity, one data center at a time.”
With future markets in sight and a replicable model on the ground, Metro Edge is betting big on a different kind of bandwidth—one where economic mobility and innovation move in lockstep.
by Tony O. Lawson
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The post Bandwidth with Purpose: Inside Metro Edge’s $250M Bet on Digital Equity appeared first on SHOPPE BLACK.
